september 26

today I was in Matthew. I’m going to read through the gospel and learn new things. Today was a successful first day at this attempt. I skipped Matthew 1 because it’s genealogies and I find that very boring (important but boring, sorry history nerds). Matthew 2 speaks of the magi traveling to find Jesus, being stopped by Herod, being ordered to report back to him the location of baby Jesus, them finding baby Jesus (or at least little toddler Jesus), having a dream that said not to report back to Herod, ditching Herod and going back home, and Herod finding out and in anger, killing all baby boys under two in the nation. A time of mourning. Joseph had a dream telling him to take his small family and flee, to save the child. He did so. But all those baby boys died. An awful thing happened and it was because the magi did not report the location of Jesus to Herod, because they were commanded so. This is what stuck out to me today: our obedience has consequences. It’s not something we hear a lot. We usually hear that obedience leads to a life of happiness found in Christ. Yes. I believe this completely. I believe that when we live in obedience and cling to Christ, he draws near to us (James 4:8) and we will find satisfaction in him. But there are also negative consequences which can follow obedience, a much less popular truth. But we see it plainly here. The magi obey the guidance of God and disobey Herod, causing his wrath and murder of so many small children. But they were right to obey. Despite the repercussions of our obedience, we are called, no matter what, to follow the guidance of the Lord.